


You Think You Are Above Consequences

by Winter_crystal



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Consequences, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Imo they're short, Maybe I shouldn't tag things that haven't happened yet, Narrator Chara (Undertale), Nonbinary Chara & Frisk (Undertale), Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Shortish chapters?, character-driven
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27458149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winter_crystal/pseuds/Winter_crystal
Summary: Frisk is determined to convince Chara to leave their happy ending alone after the genocide route, and after many resets and trying different things, it seems like Chara has finally relented. Only it comes with a catch. Chara wont let Frisk get away without consequences.
Relationships: Chara & Asriel Dreemurr & Frisk, Chara & Frisk (Undertale), Sans & Toriel (Undertale)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 33





	1. Back to the drawing board

_Frisk_

-

-

-

Once again, they found themselves surrounded by a cold, dark emptiness. Wind howled from everywhere, and nowhere at all. You’d think that after so many of these routes that it would not be so unsettling anymore, but no matter how many times Frisk ended up in this place, they were never any less chilled by it. And once again, _they_ appeared. Exactly how Chara managed to take physical form was still beyond comprehension.

“Chara. The demon that comes when people call its name,” they announced ( _again_ ). Frisk, having heard this entire spiel many times already, rolled their eyes.

“Yeah, whatever, let's just cut to the point,” said Frisk, hoping not to waste any more time. The fallen child simply tilted their head, their smile growing wider.

“Impatient, are we not? What do you expect to find here?” Frisk scowled at Chara’s amused tone of voice. _As if you don’t know what I want from you._ Reading their expression, Chara laughed, dismissing them with a wave of their hand.

“You believe that you can escape the consequences of your actions by repeating the same actions, over and over? Do you really think that this is an adequate way to atone?”

“I already have, you’re the one who keeps ruining our happy ending,” Frisk growled, now completely out of patience. “I think you just don’t want to accept that.” Chara frowned at this statement, their previously amused mood gone.

“Do you not hear the hypocrisy of your words?” they asked, reproach in their voice. “Do you think that behaving in this manner will help you?”

“Yeah, I don’t think your behavior is helping either,” responded Frisk. 

“You still think that you can escape the consequences of your actions?” they questioned, seemingly out of patience as well.

“We already established that I am above consequences didn’t we?” Frisk quipped, their tone sardonic.

“YOU CANNOT RUN FROM YOUR RESPONSIBILITY FOREVER.” Their voice and face became distorted as they destroyed the world once again. 

-

-

-

 _Not even going to ask first, huh?_ thought Frisk upon regaining consciousness. They looked down to the familiar patch of golden flowers and around the cave that surrounded them. _At least I don’t have to ask them to restore the world again,_ they thought. They sat up, taking in the comforting light of the sun’s rays that filtered in through the hole. Frisk took a deep breath, and took a moment to relax after the unpleasant memory of their last run. 

They wondered what they were going to do next, and realized that ultimately, Chara was right. Doing the same thing over and over was definitely not going to change anything; Chara would not relent that way. What could they do then? Getting everyone to the surface was off the table, and Frisk refused to just leave everyone in the Underground in a neutral route. To be frank, Frisk had zero interest whatsoever in returning to the surface without the monsters who were like family to them. The only solution that they could think of was to simply live in the underground forever. They got very close to this option before Flowey interfered, so all they really had to do was not encounter Asgore. They could iron out the details of this plan later.

Frisk stood up and dusted themself off. They knew that there was no guarantee that Chara would not take control anyway, but it was worth a shot. They decided not to think about the ways this could go wrong; after all, they never have accomplished anything by worrying. Determined to try, Frisk made their way through the first door. As usual, the flower with his deceitful smile greeted them.

“Howdy! I’m Flowey! Flowey the-”, Flowey did not get to finish his sentence before Frisk casually sidestepped around him.

“Hey!” exclaimed the now insulted flower. ”I’m talking to you!” Flowey reappeared in front of Frisk before they entered the next door.

“That was very rude of you! Someone ought to-” but Frisk was already through the door.

“Seriously!?” 

Frisk dodged the ‘friendliness pellets’ without even looking behind them.

Their mood was lifted when they saw their surrogate mother figure at the top of the stairs, surprise written on her face. Toriel hastily made her way down the stairs of the Ruins. 

“Oh! You have fallen down, correct?” she smiled warmly at Frisk. “Do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. You are the first human to come here in a long time. Come! I will guide you through the catacombs.” She walked back up the stairs and motioned for Frisk to follow her.

“This way.” she said.

Frisk stopped at their savepoint for a moment before following the boss monster up the stairs. They continued following Toriel, not paying attention to her words any longer. They followed the same motions as usual, press a switch here, talk to a dummy there, absentmindedly walk into a wall and give Toriel a heart attack. They noticed that Chara had not said anything at all to them for a while. Were they in a bad mood? 

“Chara, you still there?”, they asked, waiting for a response. They didn’t notice that they had said it loud enough for Toriel to hear, and thus nearly walked right into her when she froze.

“...My child?”, she spoke, stiffening. “Where have you heard that name?”

“Hmm? What name?”, they asked, playing dumb and hoping Toriel bought it. She paused for a moment before smiling again.

“My apologies, I must have misheard you. Did you need anything?” Frisk shook their head, glad to have dodged an unpleasant conversation. Frisk has never told anyone about Chara before, nor did they ever plan to. Their thoughts returned to said subject’s uncharacteristic silence. They supposed they should be glad Chara is not pestering them, deciding not to pursue it any further.

After Toriel left them in the long hallway, they continued as usual. They walked through the familiar purple hues of the Ruins reminiscing about their first couple of runs. On their first ever run they had stayed in the hallway for a while, waiting for Toriel to return before they realized that they should go find her themself. They hadn’t even known who the mysterious disembodied voice that followed them around was for a very long time. Frisk remembered when things were less complicated, and the most they had to worry about was their own life. Ironically, dying now seems inconsequential to the fate of all monsters that was now on Frisk’s shoulders. They hadn’t known that they could never die back then anyway. They hadn’t even known that they could fix their mistakes back then, and Frisk struggled to remember just how they survived the guilt of having killed Toriel their first run. On that topic, their first genocide run had been just a bit of curiosity. Back then they wondered what would happen if they fulfilled the prophecy in a different way. They hadn’t realized that this would change everything. 

In their deep thought, they were not paying attention and tripped over the nearest object into a pile of scarlet-red leaves. Unfortunately for them, this was when Chara decided to resume their narration. 

**In your oblivious trance, you trip over a Froggit in a most inelegant manner.** Frisk grimaced and shuffled around on the leaves, annoyed by Chara’s sudden inexplicable mood shift. 

“Well aren’t you suddenly in a good mood.”, they muttered, rising to their feet. 

**You really should pay attention to your surroundings,** Chara mused, taking the opportunity to lecture their partner. Frisk decided not to grace that statement with a response, brushing off a couple of the leaves from themself and moving on to the next room. They brushed their fingers against the violet bricks in an attempt to keep themself grounded. This of course, didn’t work, and Frisk managed to fall into every hole and walk into four more walls before even reaching the next savepoint. 

**Congratulations! You have set a new record for least attentive,** narrated Chara, after Frisk walked into the fifth wall that day.

 **Would you like me to take over for a moment?** They offered. Alarm bells rung in Frisk’s mind at this proposition; they knew that if they let Chara take over, various things could go wrong.

“Hell no! Why would I trust you?!” they exclaimed. 

**You are aware that I have the ability to take control at any time. If I wanted to do something nefarious, I would have already done so,** Chara retorted. Frisk was unable to poke any holes in that logic, and besides, they had never known Chara to lie to them. 

“Fine, but you’d better not mess up this pacifist run!” they yielded reluctantly. As soon as Frisk finished their sentence, Chara began moving immediately. They brushed off a couple more leaves from themself and somewhat unnecessarily straightened their hair. Despite having experienced this before, Frisk still felt it terribly strange to have their body move on its own. They had been incredibly scared and confused when it first happened. Frisk could technically fight Chara’s control if they wanted, but that never worked when Chara used their leverage over Frisk’s soul. 

They observed Chara make their way through the rest of the Ruins without a hitch. An outside observer who knew Frisk would be able to easily tell the difference between when Frisk is themself, and when they are Chara. Their posture was too perfect and their demeanor too formal to be Frisk. Chara carried themself with considerably more poise than typically expected of a child. It was almost difficult to believe that this was the same person who just got past Napstablook with terrible ghost puns. 

It took Chara around half the time it took Frisk to make it through the rest of the Ruins. Frisk stopped them just before they reached Toriel’s house.

 **Hey, don’t take over completely!** Frisk asserted, slightly worried that they might not get control of their body back. 

“You are so paranoid,” spoke Chara with Frisk’s voice. “Do you not trust me?”

“Not even going to answer that.”, Frisk said, now having control again. They walked up to the tree in front of the house and soon realized that they were quite early. Toriel did not show up to greet them, but they entered the house anyway, assuming that she was still in the process of baking. Their assumption was confirmed when they were met with the nostalgically wonderful scent of butterscotch cinnamon pie in progress. Frisk walked to the kitchen to notify Toriel of their arrival. When she spotted them, she quickly set the still unfinished pie down and rushed over to Frisk, concern in her eyes.

“How did you get here my child?” she asked, kneeling down to Frisk’s level. “Are you hurt?” She examined their health. “Not a scratch… Impressive! But still, I should not have left you alone for so long. It was irresponsible of me to try to surprise you like this.” Toriel glanced at the pie that she had been baking.

“Err… well I suppose I cannot hide it any longer. It is not finished yet, but it will be a butterscotch cinnamon pie! I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you to have a nice time living here, so I will hold off on snail pie for tonight.” 

She stood up and offered her hand.

“Come! I have another surprise for you.” Toriel led Frisk to the other side of the house, stopping in front of a door. “Here! A room of your own. I hope you like it.” She gently patted Frisk’s head with a loving smile. Frisk offered her a smile of their own as a response, happy to be home again.

“I will now resume baking the pie, and it may take a while longer. If you are tired, you may take a nap. Make yourself at home!”

After Toriel left the hallway, Frisk entered their room and made a beeline for the bed. They flopped right down, not even bothering to turn off the lights. Frisk closed their eyes and as soon as they thought they had some peace and quiet-

 **There is no possible way that you are tired. This run has only just now begun,** Chara scolded, seemingly frustrated with Frisk’s slow pace.

“I’m just waiting for the pie…” they muttered, burying their face in the pillow.

**You know that we don’t need that, there are plenty of foods that heal over 20 HP. Or are we going to have more HP than that? You have accomplished nothing new yet, nor have you disclosed the intent of this run with me.**

“Impatient, are we not?” they responded, turning Chara’s previous words against them. “Since when was I ever obligated to tell you anything?”

**If you want me to help you-**

“Nope! I don’t have to tell you anything, now leave me alone”, interrupted Frisk. Despite not sharing thoughts with Chara, they could practically feel Chara’s frustration at this. To their surprise, Chara didn’t make a retort, and Frisk was left to their own devices. They wondered to themself if they were being too harsh to Chara, before reminding themself of when Chara took over their body at the end of every pacifist run after the first genocide. Which they still refuse to stop doing or at _least_ explain their actions other than the typical ‘consequences’ speech. Seriously, what point are they even making? Don’t they know what resets are for??

Well, Frisk decided that they were going to be angry at Chara for as long as they kept being a jerk. They continued their quest for a restful sleep, calming their thoughts and drifting away.

-

-

-

_Frisk was relaxing on the couch by the fireplace when they were greeted with Toriel’s newest pie._

_“Hello again my child!” she greeted warmly. Toriel handed them a wonderfully smelling butterscotch pie, which they accepted gratefully._

_“Thanks mom!”, they responded, digging in immediately. To their disappointment, it didn’t really taste like anything, but they figured that was to be expected. Toriel had taken a seat on her armchair with her favorite book, “72 uses for snails.”_

_After Frisk finished their pie, they returned to their room. Before this, they examined their reflection in the mirror. Their red eyes and rosy cheeks greeted them, and they were wearing a green and yellow striped shirt. Something about their reflection struck them as odd, but they didn’t think too hard about it. Frisk entered their room to greet Asriel._

_“Hey, I’m going bug-hunting with mom soon, wanna come?” they asked._

_“Sure, I’ll come with you! He responded. Frisk noticed the magenta and blue striped shirt he was wearing and realized what was different._

_“Oh! We’re wearing each other’s shirts!”, they laughed._

_“Huh? This is Frisk’s shirt.” Asriel responded. “Are you okay, Chara?”_

_“What? But-” Frisk looked down at themself again. Panic slowly began to build as they remembered. They ran out of the room in a panic._

_They sprinted to the mirror, only to bump into Toriel._

_“Y… you… really hate me that much?”_

_She was already turning into dust._

_Frisk reached out to her quickly dissolving form._

_She died the second they drew near._

_Frisk dropped to their knees in despair._

_They stared at the dust coating their fingers as tears welled up in their eyes._

_This was all their fault._

_This was all their fault._

_This was all their fault._

_This was all-_

-

-

-

**Frisk!**

They awoke with a start, sitting up abruptly. The events of the dream were still fresh in their mind, as well as the memories that resurfaced. The weight of their prior actions never really kicked in until after the subsequent run, and now it was finally caught up to them. Their breathing grew labored as Toriel’s death replayed over and over in their mind. They remembered the utterly betrayed pain in her eyes when she was struck, her humorless, bitter laugh as she began to turn to dust. A wave of nausea overcame them, and tears pricked at their eyes as everything hit them at once.

 **Frisk, listen to me,** Chara began. **You are not on a genocide route, Toriel is alive and well-** they faltered as Frisk began to cry even harder. They rubbed at their eyes in futile attempts to stop their tears. 

**You are such a mess…** they said, insult invalidated by their soft tone. Frisk did not resist as Chara took control again, exiting their room and making their way to the living room. They distantly questioned Chara’s behavior, but didn’t have the strength to think about it too deeply.

Toriel looked up from her book and upon noticing the tears on their face, became worried.

“What is wrong, my child? Did you have a bad dream?” 

Frisk nodded, walking over to sit in Toriel’s lap.

“There, there, everything is alright now,” she comforted, enveloping Frisk in a hug. “Do you wish to talk about it?” she inquired. Frisk shook their head, leaning further into Toriel’s embrace. 

“Well then, would you like to hear about the book I am reading? It is called ‘72 uses for Snails’”. At Frisk’s subsequent nod, she began reading the book aloud. A weak smile grew upon Frisk’s face at the familiarly silly snail facts. They listened to the sound of Toriel’s voice and the crackle of the fireplace.

They felt like they could stay there forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I just want to say thank you so much for reading! This is actually the first time I have shared my writing online, so I hope it was not terrible. It really means a lot and to be honest, I'm not very confident in my writing ability, so I'm not sure if its good or not. I just hope you enjoyed this first chapter, at least a little =)
> 
> I'm sorry if the pronouns are confusing; it's really hard when you have two non-binary characters inhabiting the same body, but I will try to make it clear who is doing what. I will be switching perspectives quite a bit, and I am planning on at least writing one for each of the important characters.
> 
> There will probably be a lot of chapters in this, but I am not sure how long it will be. It will be at the least 20 chapters probably and at the most 40. I'm not too sure how often I can update this, and I'm leaning towards every once every 1 or 2 weeks.  
> All comments and feedback are appreciated!


	2. Contract

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah! New chapter!

_ Chara _

-

-

-

Just when Chara thought they could predict and understand Frisk’s actions, they went and did something like  _ this _ . Frisk still hasn’t left the Ruins in three days and has not shown any signs of leaving anytime soon. Admittedly, it hasn’t been that long, but this is still the longest they have stayed in the Ruins. Chara was almost starting to wonder if Frisk had simply given up. Were they really going to try living with Toriel forever? No, that would not make sense, Frisk has never given up on anything. Then, what exactly  _ were  _ they doing?

At the moment, they seemed content to do nothing in particular. Frisk was currently reading one of the books that were not about snails or history; a small collection of short stories that Toriel had given them to read. Chara has read this before when they were alive, and considered it too juvenile for anyone over the age of nine. Judging how Frisk has been on the same page for more than five minutes, Chara guessed their mind was someplace else. It was quite late, and Toriel has already told them to go to bed. Technically, Frisk was in bed, they just haven’t actually tried to go to sleep. They have been reluctant to go to sleep for the last three days as well… 

**Frisk, if you are reluctant to sleep in fear of having a nightmare, I recommend against staying up for too long,** advised Chara. Frisk jumped a bit at Chara’s voice, now startled out of their daydream.

**Typically, the quality of your rest decreases the longer you remain awake.**

“What do you care anyway…” Frisk muttered.

**Well, what kind of partner would I be if I did nothing to help you?** answered Chara.

Frisk frowned, slowly closing the book they hadn’t been reading. “Y’know, I really don’t think you mean that, all things considered,” they responded.

**Are you referring to those pacifist runs?** Chara guessed. They knew Frisk would not forgive them for that so easily, but they hoped they could get Frisk to see their point of view. 

**Now, you must know that partnerships require both party’s mutual understanding and cooperation, correct?** they began.  **There must be a mutual goal shared that said partners work towards. A goal I first assumed was power. I had assumed wrong. You did not have a goal at all, is that right?** This was only a half truth, but Chara didn’t think Frisk would be able to understand that their past actions have been immoral at this point. They’d just insist that resetting absolved them of wrongdoing, and Chara was not going to bother with trying to refute them just yet. 

Frisk was silent for a few moments. “...So then… what goal do  _ you  _ suggest?” Frisk murmured, almost too silently to perceive. Now that was an unexpected answer; Chara almost thought they heard it wrong. Did Frisk really just imply that they were wrong in some way? This was excellent progress!

**Well, at this point it would render all previous experiences useless if we were to stop at a normal pacifist ending, correct? I was thinking… it would be beneficial for both of us to attain an even better ending,** Chara began. Of course, this was a tall order, but it was a tall order that they knew Frisk would not disagree with. 

“... Such as?” responded Frisk, sounding quite skeptical.

**Any way you can think of that would make things better. For example, finding some way to help the amalgamates, maybe saving Asriel-**

“I was wondering when you’d get to the part that benefits you. You still care about him, right?” Frisk said, a ghost of a smile crossing their face.

**That is irrelevant,** responded Chara, hoping to avoid this topic completely.  **for now, I just need you to consider this option. Do tell me if you have any better ideas.**

“Yeah, yeah.”

**Keep in mind, however, that you will not be getting off scot-free from your previous actions, as well as wasting our time before,** Chara reminded them.

“Whatever…” said Frisk, now burying themself under the covers.

_ Well, that was significantly more progress than expected!  _ thought Chara. This was definitely surprising and a bit suspicious, but a completely welcomed change. Frisk was finally becoming less stubborn, and more open to change. This was perfect! Now that there was a more or less concrete goal to work towards, everything should run smoothly. Now for step two; developing a reasonable consequence that is a direct result of Frisk’s previous actions. Chara already had a few ideas, but figured that they needed to consider all options first. There were many things  Determination  could do that they have not yet tested.

-

-

-

The next morning, Chara decided to surprise Frisk by taking physical form. Or at least the closest one can get with pure  Determination  alone. They’d just recently figured out how to do this outside of genocide routes, and was excited to see Frisk’s reaction. After making sure their form was in order, they turned on the lamp and approached the still sleeping Frisk. They seemed to be having a peaceful dream this time, though Chara could not be sure. They occasionally shared dreams with Frisk, but had no real need to get sleep themself. Seeing Frisk so peaceful almost made them feel bad about waking them up like this. 

“Good morning!” Chara cheered, pulling the covers from the bed. Frisk only mumbled something intelligible before turning over on their stomach. “Come on, Toriel has already made breakfast. You wouldn’t want it to become cold, would you?”

Frisk grumbled a bit more before slowly sitting up. They froze for a moment upon seeing Chara right before them.

“Greetings! Toriel came in earlier but did not want to disturb you,” said Chara, smiling cheerfully at them.

“What the-” exclaimed Frisk. “Since when could you do that!?”

“I am not sure,” Chara replied honestly. “But it is a good thing that you no longer have to go through so much trouble to see me in person!” Chara giggled at Frisk’s subsequent frown.  _ Wait for it, their going to say something like: That’s not why I did those genocide runs!  _ they thought.

“I didn’t only do those runs just to see you,” Frisk said, predictable as usual. 

“You’ve just implied that it was partially the reason,” Chara pointed out.

“And you get on  _ my  _ case for flirting…” 

“Wh- I’m not- Frisk, stop being weird!” responded Chara.

Frisk chuckled, a sound Chara had not heard in a while. 

“Denying it so strongly is really suspicious, you know,” they teased. Chara simply sighed, exasperated at Frisk’s immaturity, but still a bit relieved. It reminded them of the timelines before the first genocide route. There had once been room for silly banter like this.

“You need to get out of bed, Frisk. It is already ten in the morning.” they said, quickly changing the subject.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going.” responded Frisk, finally getting out of bet, but as slowly as possible. “What are  _ you  _ going to do anyway? Are you gonna give Toriel a heart attack?” they questioned.

“No, it is considerably difficult to maintain this form. I will release it soon.” Chara lied. Truthfully, Chara did not want to be seen by their family. Not Toriel, not Asgore,  _ especially  _ not Asriel. They knew that avoiding such a confrontation may be impossible, but they’d rather wait until they knew how to approach that conversation. “You are still wearing pajamas, by the way,” Chara points out as Frisk is halfway through the door.

“You want me to take them off?”

“Get out.”

As Frisk left the room, Chara heard their mischievous laughter. They felt a smile spread on their face, but it slowly dropped with time. Chara opened their menu, the physical manifestation of Frisk’s  Determination  that Chara made their own. There were the reset and continue buttons, as well as the save and erase buttons off to the side. But Chara was in need of another medium. Chara focused their  Determination , or rather, Frisk’s  Determination  to create what they needed. The restore button. They wouldn’t use it yet, no this was not a matter one could just rush. They would wait for the right moment… 

-

-

-

_ Frisk _

“Now, you want to be very still now,” Toriel began. “Do not make any sudden movements.” Frisk followed her instructions, holding the butterfly net as still as possible. The yellow butterfly opened and closed its wings in the sunlight, as if basking in the rays. 

“Now!” Toriel urged. As the net came down, the butterfly took off, flying far out of reach.

“Oh dear… well, worry not, my child,” she comforted. “There are many more bugs to catch here!” Toriel gestured for Frisk to look closer in the grass. Just as she said, there were plenty of smaller beetles and other insects.

“Now, to catch smaller bugs such as these, you need only to be patient.” 

Frisk watched closely as Toriel held a small stick near a beetle, and after a few moments it crawled onto it. She placed the stick into the terrarium before turning back to Frisk.

“Now, you try!” She handed them a stick, smiling encouragingly.

Frisk noticed the butterfly from before in the corner of their eye, fluttering just within reach. Well, they weren’t just going to let it taunt them! They readied their net again, and swung at the butterfly at full force. 

Only to completely miss.  _ Since when did butterflies dodge?! _ they thought, getting up to chase after the pesky insect.

“My child, the butterfly will not disappear if you do not catch it right away,” spoke Toriel. “You do not need to strain yourself.”

Frisk continued to chase the butterfly, swinging their net again and again.

“You want to swing your net in an arc, my child!” Toriel called.

Frisk tried following her advice to no avail.  _ What is this thing, the Sans butterfly?! _ they thought. Frustrated, they swing faster, until finally turning the net backwards and hitting the insect with it. And would you look at that, they’d managed to trap the thing under the net.

“I caught it!” they said, their expression proud. Toriel came over from where she had been sitting. 

“Good job, little one! But it may pose a challenge to get it into the terrarium…” She kneeled down near the butterfly, examining its condition. “Could you go get it for me?” 

Frisk obediently went to grab the terrarium, and when they came back, Toriel had a worried expression.

“Oh dear… I am not sure if it is alive anymore. It has not moved…” she carefully removed the net, and the butterfly only twitched its wings pitifully. Frisk expected Chara to make some sort of quip about this, before remembering that they weren’t with them currently.  _ Hmm… they’d say something like  _ ‘ _ Congratulations, you have permanently crippled a butterfly’,  _ thought Frisk.

“Well, it is still alive, I suppose.” Toriel concluded. She carefully moved the wounded insect into the terrarium, closing the lid after. “Do not worry, I am sure that the butterfly will recover with time. It is already dinner time, is it not? Let us return home.”

-

-

-

After making the finishing touches on their sketch, Frisk smiled at the heartwarming image.

**That is quite the optimistic drawing, isn’t it?** Chara remarked. 

It was a drawing of Frisk, Chara, and Asriel holding hands. Admittedly a stretch, but it was nice to imagine. Frisk wondered if it would be too much to hope for. They hummed noncommittally, picking up a crayon. Before the crayon hit the paper, Chara stopped them.

**Frisk, you can’t even color within the lines. Let me do it.** Chara said. They weren’t wrong, but Frisk hadn’t even started yet.

“Can I try at least?” they asked.

**No, you’ll ruin it.**

“K, whatever…” they mumbled, letting Chara take over. Frisk had recently gotten tired of trying to be mad at Chara, and could now only be mildly annoyed. As Frisk observed Chara color the image, they were surprised crayons could even look that neat. Actually, they shouldn’t be surprised. Chara was the type of person to be unfairly skilled at something so simple as coloring. They colored within the lines perfectly, and  _ somehow  _ did shading. Frisk noticed that Chara added heart lockets around each of their necks. When they were finished, they returned control to Frisk.

**Finished,** they said. Frisk thought for a moment, and then spoke up.

“Do you… think that… we could maybe make this a reality?”

No response. Yeah, that was definitely a stupid question. Why had Frisk asked that? They should-

**Are you accepting my previous suggestion?**

…

… Oh that.

“Yeah, okay I guess,” they responded.

**Then, shall we set the terms of our renewed partnership?** Chara asked.  _ Of course, the catch,  _ thought Frisk.

“Fine, but can we talk face to face?” they asked. Moments later, Chara appeared before them, irritating smile and all.

“Of course,” Chara said, sitting across from them on the floor. “Let’s start with simply setting boundaries. I assume that you would like me to refrain from taking control without permission?” they offered, smiling that eerily unwavering smile. This was a deceitful offer, considering that Chara has always asked for permission anyways. The actual problem was Chara not giving up control sometimes.

“Yeah, but can you stop controlling me when I tell you to?” Frisk said, crossing their arms.

“Of course, let’s write this down.” Chara grabbed one of the extra papers and began writing.

“What, are we gonna sign it later?” Frisk jokingly asked.

“Great idea! Remind me after we finish,” Chara responded. Frisk rolled their eyes.

“Another thing, that soul still belongs to me. You may have it as long as I do not have a use for it, but do not forget this fact.” Chara says, their expression and tone now serious. 

“Yeah I know, put it in the fine print or something,” nonchalantly responded Frisk.

“Any other suggestions?” asked Chara, ignoring Frisk’s flippant remark.

“Yeah, don’t ever erase the world again.” Frisk answered, less of a suggestion and more of an order. They wanted to make sure that there was no negotiating with that.

“Understood. I will now set terms of my own,” Chara began, the pencil moving rapidly against the paper as they wrote. “You will not use the reset button-”

“What!? B-”

“Without my consent. You are aware that the save file we have been using has  _ always  _ been mine, correct? It is only fair,” Chara explained, calm as ever. Frisk really,  _ really  _ didn’t like this rule; they knew that it was unlikely that Chara would let them reset when they wanted to, but they couldn’t think of any way to refute their logic. They nodded, and Chara continued.

“You will also accept the consequences of your actions. I have already sorted that out.” they said. Aside from the annoying mention of consequences, what exactly did that mean?

“Sorted out what exactly?” questioned Frisk.

“You will see.” was Chara’s only response. After they finished writing, they handed the pencil back to Frisk. “You may sign now.” they said.

Frisk hesitantly took it, and wrote their signature right below Chara’s. They couldn’t help but feel dread as they wrote the last letter. It felt like selling their soul all over again.

“Then, it is done.” Chara said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I'm just in time for the 2 week deadline. Sorry I write abysmally slow, but here's another hopefully not terrible chapter! The way I write is kinda strange; I write things down on paper first, and then I time it up. I feel a little bad for keeping already written chapters from you guys, but my revision skills are really bad so I need time okay!  
> I gotta say, I'm really grateful for any readers and I just hope you enjoyed this one! Oh by the way, I hope you didn't think that bug hunting scene was filler; that butterfly is totally super important and will be the final boss =D  
> Joking, but you gotta cut me some slack here I'm a new writer!  
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter and can't wait to show you all the next one! <3


	3. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel perspective~

_ Toriel _

-

-

-

Toriel guided the child’s hands, showing them how to stir correctly. The snail stew, nearly complete, smelled delicious as they stirred. Toriel let go and watched the child stir by themself, a proud smile on her face. She moved to add the final touches.

“Now watch as I add the spices. You do not want to add too little or too much, but it is always safer to add the minimum first,” she advised. After adding them, she took a small sip of the stew. It was quite good, but it needed a little more of something… 

“My child, could you pass me the ginger?” she asked. The child  _ gingerly _ (tee-hee!) grabbed the spice and handed it over to Toriel wordlessly. They really did not talk that much did they? The child had spoken a bit more recently, but Toriel had not heard them speak more than one sentence at a time. Of course, they have only been staying with her for about a week, although Toriel felt like she has known them for much longer. She was sure that the child would open up when they have gotten to know each other better. 

After adding the extra spices, she tasted it again. Perfect! “Would you like a taste?” she offered, handing them the ladle. The child took a sip, before smiling with a thumbs up. Toriel giggled and patted their head.

“Well then, it is finished! You may take your seat at the table. I will fix your bowl,” she said to them. After they left the room, Toriel poured the stew into two bowls, one a smaller portion than the other. 

When she entered the living room, the child was patiently waiting at the table. The two of them ate in a comfortable silence, Toriel occasionally making a remark or two.This really was the happiest she’d been in a long time. It had been a couple years since another human child had fallen, and even longer since one has stayed for more than a couple days. It almost felt too good to be true, but she hoped that this could last. It occurred to Toriel that she still did not know the child’s name. She had put off asking since it always feels like… like she has passed the point of no return then. She was afraid of getting so attached to every child, only to fail to protect them once again. Of course, she knew that she was being selfish and cowardly; She could not put it off any longer. Once the child finished their bowl, Toriel spoke.

“Erm, my apologies for not asking this sooner, but I still do not know your name,” she began. “What is it, if I may ask?” 

The child, who had been staring into the fireplace, turned to look at Toriel. Their eyes widened a bit, although Toriel could not be sure considering their eyes were lidded in a way that they appeared to have their eyes closed from a distance. “Frisk,” they said.

“Alright then, Frisk. Could you help me with the dishes?” Toriel smiled and stood up, collecting the empty dishes. She gestured for Frisk to follow her into the kitchen, and after they had washed the dishes together, Toriel checked the fridge. There was but one slice of butterscotch pie left, and Toriel decided that the child deserved a treat for helping out.

“Thank you for helping out with the dishes today, Frisk,” she said, holding the slice. “Here, you may have the last slice as a reward!” She heated the slice with her fire magic before handing it to them. Frisk smiled and nodded thankfully, taking the pie. 

“Thanks,” they say after a moment, before returning to the living room. Hmm… it was almost seven o’clock, was it not? Toriel left the kitchen after putting away the now clean dishes. 

“Frisk, I must attend to something at the moment. I will be back in around an hour or so. Be good, alright?” she told them. Frisk, who seemed to have already finished half of the slice, nodded. Toriel left the living room and headed downstairs. She excitedly made her way to the second door and sat down, preparing her best knock-knock jokes and puns. Before Frisk came along, these little meetings were the only thing Toriel had to look forward to everyday. Although she did not know the name of the monster behind the door, she has come to think of him as a good friend of hers. On tough days, he made her smile and laugh when she thought she would never do so again, and was the one good thing about her self-imposed exile that kept her going on her worst days. Toriel smiled at the memories before knocking twice.

“Knock, knock!” she said

“who’s there?” came the response.

“Turnip.”

“turnip who?” 

“Turnip earlier next time, I had been waiting!” Toriel quipped, giggling cheerfully.

“heheheh,” he chuckled. “ok, knock knock.”

“Who is there?”

“hour.”

“Hour who?”

“hour ya doin this evening?” he said, eliciting a delighted laugh from Toriel. When she had finally calmed down her giggles, she responded.

“I am actually doing quite well, how are you doing?” she inquired.

“same as usual,  _ snow  _ reason to worry,” he said, earning more giggles out of Toriel.

“Hee hee hee! Well, that is  _ ice  _ to hear!” she responded. Toriel was reminded of when she had chosen the name for the frozen forest beyond the Ruins. She had been waiting to use that pun, and it seemed especially appropriate at the time when they really had been snowed in!

“How is your brother doing, by the way?” she asked. Toriel knew that the monster behind the door did not like talking about himself much, but he could talk about his brother for ages.

“he’s doing alright, though he’s been kinda down lately. something seems to be bothering him.”

“Oh dear, have you tried asking him what is wrong?” Toriel asked, worry lining her voice. 

“yeah, but not even he seems to what’s bothering him. i’m just glad he’s got a friend to talk to now. between the two of them, the fire department’s never had more business.” 

“Ahahaha!” Toriel laughed. From what she’d heard, Papyrus sounded like an exciting person to be around. “Well, it really is a good thing that he has another friend to talk to.”

“yeah, i’m glad for him. things have been a lot more  _ explosive  _ with his friend around.” he quipped.

“Oh dear, I hope you do not mean that literally,” Toriel said with a laugh.

“heh, well, let’s just say i’m glad they haven’t done any cooking in our kitchen.” he responded. Toriel laughed again, more out of disbelief than amusement. Surely he was not serious about the fire departments and the explosions? Perhaps Toriel will need to drill Papyrus and his friend on the importance of cooking safety.

“anyway, how’s the kid?” he asked.

“Oh, they are doing well! They have become less closed off recently, and they have been having less nightmares as well.”

“cool, cool. i’m sure it’s been a  _ dream  _ so far, huh?” he said. Toriel laughed again, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

“Ahahaha! Well, I know that these happy times will not  _ drift off  _ !” she joked between giggles. They continued exchanging puns for a while, time seeming to fly by. Before they knew it, it had become quite late.

“welp, gotta skedaddle. got the perfect bedtime story idea for my bro.” he said. 

“Alright, we had better not resist  _ a-rest _ any longer!”

“heheheheh, ‘k, g’night.”

“Goodnight to you too. Sweet dreams!” 

Toriel waited a moment before leaving. Walking back through the hallways, she smiled to herself. Things really have been looking up for her and her new child. Although, in the back of her mind, she was still afraid that this would not last. Surely, Frisk would grow tired of the monotonous life in the Ruins, and would leave, like all of the others. Toriel reminded herself that Frisk had not shown any signs of wanting to leave, and judging by their frequent nightmares, they may not want to return to where they had been at all. 

Once she had risen up the stairs, she checked the living room to find it empty. She then made her way to the hallway to their bedrooms, and cracked open the door to Frisk’s room. The lights were off, and they were fast asleep. Toriel smiled at the sight, a warm feeling coursing through her. She slowly closed the door so as to not make a sound. Toriel decided to set aside her worries for now, and let herself be content. After returning to her room, she sat down in front of her diary, recording all of the new puns she had heard that evening. She came up with a few new ones to use next time, giggling in anticipation. Once she was done, she finally changed into her nightgown and layed down in bed. She filled her mind with happy thoughts as she slowly drifted off to sleep…

-

-

-

_ Toriel faced the exit to the Ruins, taking deep breaths to prepare herself. Small footsteps echoed behind her, and she turned her head to look. The child stood there, unmoving and silent. She sighed and looked away, knowing that she could not stop them without taking drastic action. _

_ “You want to leave so badly? Hmph. You are just like the others,” she uttered, disappointed. “There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself… prove to be that you are strong enough to survive!” Toriel turned around, steeling her nerves and preparing her attack. She had no time to react when the child closed the distance in an instant. Shock set in as she looked down at herself to see a massive wound across her chest. The pain set in next. The aforementioned wound as well as a cut on her cheek burned as she stared back at the child, struggling to find words. _

_ “Y… you… really hate me that much?” she stuttered. The child had no visible reaction to her words, only staring back with no expression. Toriel had been taken down in one hit, all of her hp gone in an instant. What kind of ‘child’ was this? _

_ “Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you here. Not you…” she spoke, her voice shaking as she realised what she had just released into the underground. “But them!” She dropped to one knee as her body began to waver. She smiled at the irony of it all, letting out a broken, humorless laugh. “Ha… ha…” _

_ Everything faded into nothingness. _

_ - _

_ - _

_ - _

Toriel’s eyes shot open.  _ What… _ she thought, before shooting up into a sitting position. Memories came rushing down like raindrops. They put out the fires of hope, drowning her in despair. The child, Frisk, they… they… She remembered them refusing to fight her before, befriending every monster in the underground. She remembered them taking her down in one hit, going on to do  _ who knows what  _ to everyone else. She remembered rushing to the capital to stop Asgore, only to find a pile of dust, while other times meeting up with all of the friends the child made. She remembered so many things, returning to rule the underground, being overthrown by Undyne, watching the sunset with everyone on the surface, dying so,  _ so _ many times… Toriel choked down a sob. Were these memories even real? She brought her paws to her mouth, stifling her whimpers. Shivering, she tried to put her distressing memories in order. She last remembered being killed in one of the many times she went down in one hit. How many times had that happened? Memories seemed to blur together, seemingly uncountable instances of each event clouding her mind. How many times had any of this happened? Why was Toriel only remembering just now? How was this even possible? 

When she realized that she had been hyperventilating, she tried to relax her breathing. She took a deep breath in and out, hoping to clear her mind before she had a panic attack. Once she had calmed down a bit, she quickly checked the clock. It was four in the morning. She knew that there was no way she was getting back to sleep now, so she got out of bed and left the room. She paused at the door to Frisk's room. Had they remembered too? She hesitantly cracked the door open, barely noticing her paws shaking. They were still fast asleep. How ironic. She slowly closed the door, panic beginning to set in. The one difference between each memory was Frisk. Their actions were the catalyst of every little thing, their decision to spare or kill everyone deciding the fate of the entire underground. She let out a shaky, dry laugh. When she had told them that she felt like she was seeing an old friend for the first time, she did not think that it was so literal. Toriel felt lost. She did not know if anyone else remembered, and she did not want to wake Frisk up or even if she could even manage to talk to them all things considered. Then she remembered. Sans! She remembered how close she had grown to the short skeleton when she had been banished back into the Ruins. Toriel was almost brought to tears remembering all the times he had been there for her. She knew it was terribly unlikely that he was awake now, but maybe he has gone through the same thing she has? She rushed down the stairs and through the hallway, stopping at the second door. She knocked hesitantly.

“Knock knock?” she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. 

No response.

Of course, even if he had remembered, he would not come to her first. She turned and slid down into a sitting position, her back against the door.

…

She did not know how much time had passed when she heard a knock.

“tori, are you there?” came the familiar voice.

“Sans! You remember? I am so happy to hear your voice!” Toriel said, her voice thick with emotion. She turned around and pressed her paws against the door.

“yeah… it’s a rough night for everyone. and when i say everyone, i really do mean  _ everyone _ .” he said.

“You mean, everyone has received these memories?” she asked. The thought fills her with relief knowing that she was not alone, but she was worried for everyone as well.

“yep. everyone’s remembered the timelines. anyway… are you ok tori?” he asked.

“I will be alright. What do you mean by ‘timelines?’ Are they what is causing these memories?” she inquired.

“uh, yeah… you know how each timeline, the kid is the main difference?”

“Yes… is it that they are the reason behind these timelines?” she guessed, remembering how Frisk sometimes behaved as though they have seen everything before.

“yep. they’re the anomaly. by that i mean, their determination is strong enough to give them the power to save and reset.” he responded. Toriel did not follow completely, but she understood for the most part of what he was saying. The child had a special power that allowed them to reset the timeline. 

“uh, sorry if i’m not making much sense, tori.” Sans spoke after Toriel was silent for a few moments.

“It is alright, I understand for the most part. So Frisk has the ability to reset the timeline, and that is the reason for all of this, correct?’ she asked.

“yeah. is the kid still asleep?”

“Yes.”

“great. could you keep them in the ruins for awhile? just until things are calmer?” he requested.

“Of course. Err… may I ask you a question?”

“sure.”

“I remember… dying many times before Frisk left the Ruins. If I may ask, what happened in those timelines?”

“depends. they’d kill somebody here, or spare that person there. sometimes they’d kill everybody.” 

“...Oh.” Toriel uttered. She could only imagine what it was like… when she was killed instantly, Frisk had probably gone on to kill every monster in the underground with ease. She cursed her own ignorance before; how could she not have noticed the Ruins were so empty and dusty? Why hadn’t she ever seen the dust on their clothes? She could have warned Sans, she could have stopped them if she hadn’t been holding back, she could have done  _ something! _

_ “ _ but hey, no use worrying about that right now, after all there's a  _ time and place  _ for that,” Sans quipped, and it took Toriel a moment to process the joke. When she did, she let out a weak laugh.

“Ahaha… I suppose you are right. It is  _ about time  _ we focus on the future!” she replied. It was true, there was no reason to dwell on past mistakes. Toriel needed to think of the future instead.

“heheh, good one,” he chuckled. “tori, i know you said you’d be alright already, but really, are you ok?”

“I am better now that you are here. How are you faring?” she asked.

“could be better, could be worse, but i  _ a-door _ being here with you,” he responded, causing Toriel to burst into a fit of giggles. She was very grateful to have a friend like Sans.

“Heeheehee! Oh, speaking of which, I have the perfect knock-knock joke in mind!”

“shoot.”

“Knock knock!”

“who’s there?”

“Adore.”

“adore who?”

“Adore is between us, but it will never keep us apart!” she finished, smiling fondly. There was a pause - and then she heard soft chuckles from behind the door.

“... heheheh… ok, knock knock.” 

They went on, sharing puns and jokes long into the morning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gee does this count as ship baiting? I promise you I didn't plan this, it just turned out this way XD  
> Anywho, writing this chapter was super fun! I really enjoy writing Tori's perspective, and I honestly can't wait to write more of her and others! The plot is actually starting now so that's great, I hope you guys are as excited as I am!  
> Thank you all so much for the support and comments; I really didn't expect such an amazingly positive response! I was fully prepared for the classic complete silence in the comments, but I'm super glad that didn't happen! I'm sorry I can't respond to all, but just know that I really appreciate you all!


	4. Heartache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a confrontation happens~

_ Frisk _

-

-

-

Frisk knew something was wrong when Chara practically dragged them out of bed that morning. Chara seemed oddly excited about something, which was almost always a bad sign. What was even stranger, however, was that Toriel was nowhere to be found in the house. She was not in the kitchen making breakfast like usual, nor was she in her room. This struck Frisk as especially strange, considering Toriel has always informed them if she was leaving. Frisk wondered if she was in the basement near the exit, but they hadn’t done anything to make her think they were leaving, had they? A quick look downstairs at least confirmed that Toriel had not got to destroy the exit. Frisk guessed that she must be out for more groceries. But why at eight in the morning? They wondered if they should go look for her, or if they should stay put after saving their file again, pacing indecisively.

**You know, now would be the perfect time to exit the Ruins, if you so desire,** Chara spoke, interrupting Frisk’s train of thought.  **You will not have to face her if you leave now.**

“I can’t leave without telling her…” Frisk muttered, more to themself than as a response. “She’d freak out if I went missing…” Of course, they could go look for her in the rest of the Ruins, but Frisk had no idea where she got her groceries, if that was what she was doing in the first place. It would probably be easy to find her though, and Frisk still hasn’t properly explored the right side of the Ruins…

**You could go search for her in the other side of the Ruins, after all we have not yet fully explored there,** Chara said, in a tone one would use to bribe a small child with sweets. Well, it was settled. Frisk would stay put, because Chara was clearly trying to get them to leave. Knowing Chara, they probably knew where Toriel had gone and was trying to trick Frisk somehow. Sighing, they made their way to the kitchen in search of breakfast. Frisk debated if they should ask Chara if they knew something…

**In case you are suspicious of my intentions, I really do not know where Toriel is either, and I am curious as well as to why she would be out so early,** spoke Chara, as though reading their mind.

“Mhmh,” Frisk hummed, not very convinced. They decided to not care anymore considering Toriel will probably come back soon and Frisk could explore the other side of the Ruins at any time. Well, Frisk hoped she’d return soon, not finding leftover snail stew a very appetizing breakfast.

**Frisk, I assure you that I am not trying to trick you. Have we not established a basis of trust already?** continued Chara, apparently not realizing how shady they sound. Surely they should know by now that treating their friendship like a business partnership is not working. Now ignoring them, Frisk examined the contents of the fridge. There was the leftover stew, raw ingredients like milk and eggs, and that brand name chocolate bar. Maybe they could try making themself some breakfast.

**Frisk, are you even listening?** asked Chara, who had still been monologuing or something.

“No,” Frisk admitted nonchalantly. They could try doing something with the eggs…

**Okay, well, if you do not want to be reasonable, I will not waste my words on you,** Chara said, sounding very annoyed. Frisk tried and failed to stifle a laugh as they pulled the egg carton out of the fridge. After pulling out the pan, they wondered if they should just fry it normally or do something else. Frisk was in the mood for scrambled eggs, but they weren’t really sure how to make that.

“Hey Chara, how do you make scrambled eggs?” they asked. No response, fair enough. Then they’ll just try on their own. Frisk knew that you probably can’t just put the eggs on the pan as is since that’d just make a normal fried egg, so they pulled out a bowl to mix them in. After mixing two eggs in a bowl until it was all yolk, they turned on the eye and set the surprisingly heavy pan onto it. Then, after pouring the eggs onto it, they used the spatula to scramble it. Frisk thought they were doing well until the eggs started sticking to the pan. And was it supposed to smoke so much? Maybe they’d turned the heat up too high? Frustratingly, the spatula was now somehow getting stuck on the eggs that were  _ still  _ stuck on the pan and was actually burning now.

**Frisk, turn off the eye,** said Chara, startling Frisk a bit. They did as they were told and tried to scrape the somewhat salvageable eggs onto a plate. About half of it actually came out of the pan, the rest stubbornly staying put. 

“I did something wrong didn’t I?” they asked.

**You didn’t oil the pan,** Chara pointed out. Eying the depressingly hard scrambled, mostly burnt eggs on the plate, Frisk hesitantly grabbed a fork to try it. It tasted… bad. But they were hungry and wasting food was wrong. They had to eat the rest of it. And maybe clean the pan too…

“Is something burning? I smell smoke,” came Toriel’s voice as she entered the kitchen. She froze for a moment upon seeing Frisk. Then she put on a worried expression. “Oh dear… did you try cooking something?” Frisk nodded, and Toriel came closer to examine the damage. “You were… attempting to cook scrambled eggs, but you had forgotten to oil the pan?” she assessed, and Frisk nodded again. “That is alright. We all make mistakes when cooking. I am sure that it would have turned out great,” she spoke, sounding a bit strained. Frisk looked up at Toriel, noticing she seemed somewhat stressed. She didn’t look like she’d slept very well; her eyes looked quite tired and her fur was somewhat unkempt.

Toriel tasted a bit of the failed breakfast, before immediately discarding it in the trash. “Err… my apologies for being absent this morning. I had been attending to a few errands. I will make you a proper breakfast, alright?” she spoke. Frisk wondered what kind of errands Toriel needed to do earlier than eight o’clock, but refrained from asking.

“Can I help?” they asked instead. Toriel froze again, avoiding Frisk’s gaze.

“Are you certain? It is alright if you want to stay away from the kitchen for awhile,” she spoke.

“I’m sure.” Frisk responded, confused by Toriel’s reluctance. Usually, Toriel was quite happy to teach Frisk, even when there were some kitchen accidents.

“...Alright then, how about we make some pancakes?” Toriel said, opening the fridge to get the ingredients. Frisk watched her go through the motions, almost robotically. She only asked for their assistance a few times to add the eggs or mix the batter. She usually explained what she was doing or how the ingredients worked together in whatever they were cooking, but she was mostly silent this time… 

“Are you okay?” Frisk asked eventually after the pancakes were made. Toriel paused before meeting Frisk’s concerned expression with a smile. 

“I am alright, my child. I simply did not sleep very well last night. How was your rest last night, by the way?” she asked, redirecting the conversation. 

“I slept fine,” responded Frisk, and that was genuinely the truth. They hadn’t had another nightmare in a couple of days. Toriel’s expression shifted into something odd, but it was gone in an instant, replaced by relief.

“Ah, good. That is nice to hear.” Toriel looked a bit less stressed than before, though no less tired. She handed Frisk their plate, smiling warmly. “Let us finally eat breakfast.” She exited the kitchen and Frisk began to follow before something caught their eye. They could have sworn they saw a flash of yellow in the corner of their eye, and the floorboard in the corner was slightly ajar… Flowey? But he usually didn’t spy on them indoors… Frisk exited the kitchen, feeling a bit of dread. They and Toriel ate in silence, not unusual considering Frisk didn’t talk much, but Toriel’s combined silence put them on edge a bit. For a moment, Frisk thought they saw Flowey again behind the chair Toriel was seated in.

**Frisk, we need to leave soon. It is about time we exit the Ruins; we cannot stay here forever,** came Chara’s voice. There was no negotiating in their tone, and they were technically right, but Frisk had a bad feeling about today. They didn’t want to leave Toriel while she seemed unwell, and today just felt really off. Frisk shook their head, watching Toriel barely touch her plate, staring off somewhere.  **I understand that you are worried about Toriel, but you will not leave her forever, and she will see you again as soon as you make it through the rest of the underground,** Chara said, refuting Frisk’s worries and being annoyingly correct. Frisk frowned slightly, knowing that Chara’s words were perfectly logical, but still being unsure. There was definitely something off, but it probably wouldn’t improve if they stayed. Frisk took a deep breath before they spoke up.

“Toriel?” 

“Yes, Frisk?” she responded, looking up from her barely touched meal.

“...When can I go home?” they reluctantly asked. Toriel stiffened and stared back at Frisk. Her maroon eyes slowly narrowed and her gaze steeled. This struck Frisk as very unusual; Toriel never reacted like this before when they asked to go home. Well, this was the longest Frisk had ever stayed with Toriel, so perhaps she felt a little betrayed? “I just… miss home a lot…” they blatantly lied. Frisk would very much like to stay forever, but it was kind of unfair to stay when they knew exactly how to free the monsters.

“Is that so?” Toriel questioned, raising an eyebrow. She stood up from her seat. “Excuse me, I must attend to something at the moment.” Toriel turned and left the room, her posture stiff.

“Umm…” Frisk muttered. “That wasn’t normal…”

**Just keep moving, Frisk,** Chara said.  **You will not be in the dark for long.**

“Oh? So you know something.” Frisk pointed out.

**Keep moving, Frisk,** Chara repeated, not bothering to explain or anything. Frisk sighed and made their way out of the living room. They walked down the stairs to the basement, and like usual, Toriel was standing there, facing away from them. She tilted her head in their direction, having heard their footsteps.

“Ahead of us,” Toriel began, “lies the end of the Ruins. But you already knew that, did you not?” She began walking forward at a brisk pace, not glancing behind her. Frisk had to run a bit to match her stride. 

“I suppose all good things must come to an end. Perhaps that was what you were thinking when you reset all of those times. Were you thinking that when you killed all of us as well?” she spoke, causing Frisk to freeze right in their tracks.  _ What…? _ they thought. Did they hear her correctly? Toriel didn’t wait for them, she just kept walking as if she hadn’t just said something literally impossible for her to know. Who had told her? Frisk ran to catch up with her, almost tripping as they turned the corner. Toriel was standing in front of the door, and she turned to face them early. She and Frisk simply stared at each other for a moment. Toriel’s expression was grim and her eyes burned into Frisks as if seeing right through them. 

“Who… told you that?” Frisk asked, sounding stunned. If it was Flowey, they can easily brush it off as a lie… but Flowey shouldn’t remember either? The last run was a genocide route, so surely the world restoration erased his memories too-

“No one had to tell me, child.” Toriel spoke. Stunned into silence again, Frisk’s mind reeled. She remembered?? That was very impossible, unless there was some loophole Frisk didn’t know about. Yeah, everyone seemed to get deja vu from resets, but they never remembered!

“...How?” they asked after a few moments.

“My memories returned last night. I do not know how, but everyone has remembered as well.” she answered. Frisk could only stare back in disbelief. “Well? Do you have anything to say for yourself? Have you any defense for your actions?” Toriel questioned, her tone full of scorn. Frisk shrank beneath her withering stare, still at loss for words. A tense silence suffocated the room. This entire situation still made absolutely zero sense, and Frisk was just barely processing the full implications of Toriel’s words.

“...You remember… everything…? Frisk asked after a while, their voice barely above a whisper.

“Every timeline, every reset. Yes Frisk, I remember everything,” she responded.

“...Even the first two?”

“Yes. I was overthrown in the first, and you killed me in the second, correct?” 

Wrong. She didn’t remember the first two. Frisk had accidentally killed Toriel in the very first timeline, and the second was their first pacifist run. They supposed the first true reset made any of those memories from before unretrievable for real. But still, no one should be remembering anything.

“So you have nothing to say? Then return to your room at once. You are not leaving here so soon.” Toriel ordered sternly. Frisk stared back at her, slowly processing her words.  _ So we’re doing this again?  _ they thought. In a funny way, nothing has changed. Frisk wants to leave the Ruins, and Toriel wants to stop them. Well, this shouldn’t really be any harder than usual. 

**I suggest you do as she says,** advised Chara, apparently deciding to change their mind, while still not commenting on the situation at hand. 

“No,” Frisk spoke up to both requests. Toriel bristled at their refusal.

“Excuse me? You are not in any position to refuse, nor do you have the right!” she snapped. 

“I can’t stay here,” they answered plainly. This was true, Frisk needed to leave the Ruins to free the monsters, and they needed to see what was going on out there regarding Toriel’s previous statement. 

“You are  _ not  _ leaving the Ruins today, child! I do not intend to keep you here forever, but as long as you are a threat to all monsterkind, you cannot be allowed to roam freely!” Toriel ordered. She summoned fire in her paws as she stared Frisk down. They took a step forward. A torrent of flames spun in Frisks direction, and they quickly dodged, the flames grazing them slightly. This wasn’t an attack pattern they knew, and it didn’t seem like there would be any. That was fine, it usually wasn’t hard to get the hang of new patterns. They doge more flames from each side, taking a few steps closer.

“I’m not going to fight you,” Frisk said, holding their hands in front of them. Another attack spun towards them, forcing them back a few steps.

“You will not be able to manipulate me, child,” Toriel declared, preparing another attack. Frisk quickly ate some monster candy they had leftover in their pockets, healing their hp to full again. They dodged more of the flames, noticing Toriel’s attacks becoming faster. “What gave you the idea that you can play with all of our lives like this?!” Toriel questioned as she summoned more flames around her. “Did you ever truly care about any of us?”

“Of course I did and I still do!” Frisk answered immediately between dodges.

“Then why? Why did you do all of those awful things?” Toriel asked, the flames pausing.

“But I undid them! I’d never leave things like that,” they tried explaining.

“You did not answer my question.  _ Why  _ did you reset so many times?” she questioned.

“...Well…” They knew Toriel wouldn’t accept ‘curiosity’ as an answer, but they knew she’d see right through a lie. “I wanted to get the best outcome, so I tried different things. I was just making sure!” A half truth.

“You thought killing all of us would make a better outcome? Do not lie to me!” Toriel snapped, and the flames reanimated, waves of fire launching toward Frisk. “You were simply curious, were you not? You thought your actions would have no consequences!” she accused, her attacks unrelenting. Frisk inwardly cringed at the mention of consequences as more and more flames overwhelmed them. When they realized they were out of healing items, they began to panic. 

“But everything would be fine if you didn’t remember, right?! I haven’t done anything bad this run!” they said.

“That does not change the fact that you have before,” Toriel retorted. “Do not think that simply ‘undoing’ your actions erases them! You have hurt and betrayed the entire Underground!” Toriel continued, her own voice betraying the hurt she herself must have felt. Frisk was too slow to dodge the next attack, unable to concentrate any longer. The blue flames knocked them to the ground. They had one hp left, but it looked like Toriel wasn’t attacking anymore.Was Toriel right? No, she just didn’t understand the concept of resetting. It must feel like every timeline just happened to her, of course she’s upset.

“Go upstairs.” Toriel ordered, the flames around her dissipating. Frisk knew Toriel wouldn’t kill them, so they weren’t going to accept defeat so quickly. They stood up again, standing their ground. 

“No,” they said.

“Please do not force my hand. Go upstairs  _ now _ .” Toriel spoke, her voice shaking slightly.

“Mom, I have to leave-”

“Go upstairs!” Toriel snapped, summoning fire once more.

“You wouldn’t,” Frisk stated with full confidence. Fire was the last thing they saw before everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, now we've got the ball rolling! Hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter because I sure did have a lot of fun writing it!  
> I hope I'm doing a good job at making Frisk kind of an idiot-jerk, but having them still be likeable at least, lol. Characterization has always been my favorite thing to come up with, and I basically had to come up with all of Frisk's anyway; I never really liked the fandom's general interpretation of them being a perfect pacifist child with no flaws, but it doesn't bother me as much as the interpretation of Chara as being an irredeemable demon child, a generally outdated interpretation anyway.  
> Oh by the way, an early Merry Christmas to all of you! Hope your holidays are filled with wonder and cheer despite the circumstances around us!


	5. No do-overs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this took me 4 weeks

_Chara_

-

-

-

 **Well, I don’t suppose you would like an explanation now?** asked Chara once their save file was loaded. Frisk was frozen in place in front of the save point, standing in front of Toriel’s house. Chara guessed they were in some kind of shock after the previous events, so they spoke again.

 **Earth to Frisk, anyone home?** they asked

“Toriel… just… killed me,” Frisk uttered, as though it was just setting in. 

**Yes, she did. Do not be so alarmed; she knew that you would not stay dead,** Chara assured them. Frisk was silent for a few moments, appearing to be lost in thought before they spoke up again.

“Are you going to explain now?” they said.

 **Why of course. May I?** Chara asked. Understanding the question, Frisk sighed and reluctantly accepted. Now in control, Chara presented the restore button. “This,” they began, “Is the restore button. It restores previous memories affected by resets. I used it last night to recover everyone’s memories.”

 **So this** **_is_ ** **your fault…** Frisk said accusingly. 

“Well, is it really my fault somehow that your past actions have caused Toriel to resent you?” they shot back.

 **Yes, because she wouldn’t know if it weren’t for you,** Frisk said, completely missing the point. Resisting the urge to facepalm, Chara sighed.

“Well, I will use it again now to restore her memories since we loaded our save, unless you would like to fight her again,” Chara spoke, not waiting for a response before pushing the button.

 **Hey!** exclaimed a very upset Frisk. **What if she attacks me again? And now she’s definitely not letting us leave! I could have convinced her this time!**

“No do-overs. Like I said, you need to face the consequences of your actions,” Chara decided. 

**Chara-**

“Do not argue, you know that it would not be right to-”

Chara was interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind them, quickly releasing control. Frisk turned around to see Toriel rushing toward them from behind the tree.

“So you really can come back from the dead? Well child, I highly suggest you return to your room this instant or we shall be at this all day.” Toriel spoke, summoning fire in one paw. Frisk froze in place, staring back at Toriel with a furrowed brow. They were most likely debating whether or not they have any change at getting past her without harming her. After a few moments, Frisk deflated a bit and nodded slowly. “Good,” she said, the flame dissipating. “You will remain here as long as I see fit.” Toriel spoke, her expression stern.

Frisk made their way into the house and Toriel followed behind them. She watched them enter their room, her gaze steeled. Upon entering the room, Frisk collapsed onto the bed face-down. Chara decided to manifest physically before addressing them.

“If you take a nap now, you will probably have trouble falling asleep tonight,” they said. Frisk mumbled something that sounded a bit like ‘shut up’. “Well, have you decided on any course of action yet? Or are you just going to mope,” Chara inquired. Frisk sat up and scowled at Chara, who kept a pleasant smile on their face.

“...What point are you trying to make with this?” Frisk asked.

“The same point I have been trying to get through to you this entire time,” they responded, not losing their smile.

“Seriously? You know this doesn’t help anybody, right?” Frisk asked, their frown deepening. 

“All I did was return the memories everyone had lost. Who’s fault is it that those memories are so awful?” Chara retorted.

“It’s still _your_ fault for returning them!” Frisk responded. Chara’s smile dropped as they sighed again. Well of course, they anticipated that this would not be so easy, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating. 

“Okay, if someone had done something awful to you and then erased your memories, wouldn’t you want to remember?” Chara asked.

“No, I wouldn’t!” Frisk exclaimed.

“You are only saying that because you don’t want to sound like a hypocrite,” they pointed out, rubbing the bridge of their nose. 

“That’s not-”

“Let us discuss something else. What are you going to do now?” Chara asked, knowing that they were not getting anywhere with the previous conversation. Frisk paused for a couple moments, caught off guard by the sudden topic change. Then they crossed their arms and looked away. 

“I dunno. I hope you realize there’s no way we’re getting a better ending at this point,” they say finally.

“That is not true. I know you do not think so yet, Frisk, but it is a good thing that everyone’s memories have returned,” Chara said. Frisk grumbled incoherently. 

Well, Chara was still pleased with recent events. Even tiny progress was still progress. Frisk had seemed at loss for words when Toriel confronted them, as though they had been struggling to come up with any kind of excuse. Chara’s theory was that although Frisk may not listen to them, they might listen to everyone else. This seemed to hold true so far, even though this would take a while. So Chara was in a good mood nonetheless, and things should run smoothly from here! Except for… the small, yellow flower that had just appeared in the room and was now staring at Chara.

…

_Oh no_

… Chara expected this might happen, and had thought of a plan for dealing with this situation. Unfortunately, they drew a blank when they tried to remember it in the moment. They felt a very strong urge to just disappear, which they could actually do, although that would not be a very good long term solution. 

“H-howdy Chara! L-long time no see?” he nervously stuttered, seeming just as prepared for this conversation as Chara was. A long silence ensues. 

“So there you are Flowey. I was wondering when you’d actually show,” Frisk spoke up, reminding Chara of their presence. Luckily, this also reminded them of their general plan for dealing with this. Before Flowey can respond to Frisk, Chara spoke up.

“Ah, so you are here finally. Before you ask, it really is me,” they said, putting on their trademark smile. That’s right, don’t think of him as Asriel; just a sentient flower who just so happens to have his memories. “You can thank Frisk’s determination for my presence.”

“It’s really you…? Have you been here this whole time? Th-then, how come-”

“I have only recently been able to appear physically, and I was only capable of communicating with Frisk,” they quickly interrupted. Unfortunately that did not seem to satisfy the flower.

“But then, why didn’t you tell them to tell me you were there? J-just so that I knew-”

“Surely you understand my apprehension regarding that? There was never a very good opportunity to affirm my presence, and I am not so sure how effective that would be considering you were trying to kill Frisk regardless,” Chara pointed out. Flowey winced a bit as though remembering his former actions, but Chara spoke again before he could respond.

“No need to worry about that now, of course. I am sure you would like an explanation for the current situation,” they spoke, swiftly changing the subject. “So, I discovered an ability that allows me to return memories erased by resets. I noticed that data from previous timelines could be saved a while back, and I had been doing so in case I could find a use for them. And so I-”

“I wouldn’t say this is a very good use for that,” interrupted Frisk.

“Well Frisk, I would say that this is a wonderful way to give you a wake up call,” retorted Chara.

“You’re just making things unnecessarily difficult,”

“No, I am making sure you don’t think that you can do whatever you want and get away with it. Asriel, help me explain to Frisk why they are an idiot,” Chara said, turning their attention back to him. 

Flowey was mutely staring back at Chara and Frisk as if lost for words. He opens and closes his mouth multiple times as though he was going to say something, but nothing comes out. A longer silence ensues. Well, at least this was going better than Chara had first expected it to go. Now all that was left to do was to make him go away.

“...Well, if you do not have anything better to do, I was wondering how everyone else is doing out there at the moment. Could you go check on everyone for me?” requested Chara, hoping to kill two birds with one stone. It was true that Chara wanted, or rather needed to know what was going on out there and they knew this would keep him distracted due to his curiosity. Unfortunately, this plan does not seem to work when a frown grew on the flower’s face.

“Wait… you're sending me away? But, it’s been so long! Don’t you wanna hang out again like old times?” he asked. 

“Asriel, it will not take you long. Just come find Frisk and I when you are finished, okay?” they responded, trying not to sound exasperated. ~~Asriel~~ Flowey frowned more, not satisfied with their answer.

“So you’re sending me off so you can hang out with Frisk more, huh?! What, is _Frisk_ your new best friend now?!” he growled. Chara blinked a couple times at his accusation, but began to laugh when they processed it. 

“Ahahahaha! Oh, that is _hilarious_ coming from you! Is Frisk not the type of friend you wish you always had? Yeah, don’t think I didn’t hear that,” they spoke, a slightly hysterical edge to their voice. “If _you_ are still my best friend, then you will do as I say.” Flowey started at them again with a startled expression as though processing, before he started looking desperate.

“Of course I’m still your best friend! B-but it feels like you’re trying to get rid of me! H-have I done something wrong?” he questioned, his voice mimicking that of Asriel’s. Now this breaks Chara’s composure; the fact that he has the _audacity_ to try to emotionally blackmail them with his old voice…

“Did you do something wrong?” Chara repeated. “Did you do something wrong?! I don’t know _Asriel,_ was it wrong of you to do what you did with your reset abilities? Was it wrong of you to try to kill Frisk all those times? And I _still_ don’t know how you managed to mistake Frisk for me so many times- Frisk where are you going,” Chara said, noticing Frisk moving to leave the room.

“This is none of my business,” Frisk said as they slipped out of the room. This brought Chara out of their rant, now becoming aware of themself. ~~Asri~~ Flowey was cowering with a fearful, yet ashamed expression, trying to make himself as small as possible.

…

“I-I’m sorry, I… am being unfair to you again…” they apologized. Here they are again, even after so much time, they still are being a terrible friend. They should know that things have not been easy for him!

“No… you’re right, Chara,” he said. “I did some pretty awful stuff… and I don’t know what I was thinking when I thought Frisk was you either,” ~~Asriel~~ Flowey said with a sad smile. 

“Ahaha… well, I guess I can understand why you might mistake them for me on a genocide route, but truely, no idea why you thought that on a pacifist route,” Chara spoke with a half smile, their tone sardonic. “I suppose you were just projecting, like you said.”

“Yeah… but um, when I said Frisk was the kind of friend I wish I always had, I didn’t mean to say you were a bad friend or anything,” Asriel said.

“Hm? No, you’d be right on the money there, Az. Surely you have figured that out by now,” they responded, laughing a bit in disbelief.

“What? Chara, that’s not true! You-”

“I got you _killed_ , Asriel. And you said it yourself as well. You do not regret having refused to kill, do you?” Chara interrupted, their tone flat. Asriel looked taken aback for a moment before he spoke again.

“Chara… what happened back then wasn’t really one person’s fault specifically… I thought it was my fault we died because I refused to kill… and I’m still not sure what the right decision was… but none of that stuff means you’re a bad friend, nor does it change how I feel about you! Even now, without a soul, I still care about you significantly more than I care about anyone or anything else!” 

Chara flinched at his words and averted their gaze from his face, which had shifted to resemble his old face. How could they respond to that? Such a heartfelt and passionate assertion from the soulless shell of Chara;s best friend, who despite all evidence suggesting they were a terrible person and friend, _still_ claims to love and care about them. They knew that they could not convince him of otherwise anyway, such conversations going nowhere in the past. 

…

… 

“Um… well I guess you still want me to go spy for you?” the flower said after Chara had been silent for a while. “Okay, fine, but you’d better explain everything better when I get back!”

Chara knew they should say something to him, but they could not form any words.

“See you soon, Chara,” he said, before disappearing under the floorboards.

…

Well, they completely failed that entire confrontation, did they not? A weak chuckle escapes their lips. And once again, they have won the ‘Award for Worst Friend Ever™”, selfishly taking and giving nothing while Asriel has always tried so hard to please them. They brought their hands up to cover their face, and pulled at their bangs. But the expected pain did not come. Of course, they are still dead. A louder laugh escaped them as they pulled harder on their hair, despite knowing that they would not feel pain. Of course, it is only fair that they face the consequences of their own actions. There was no undoing their own mistakes either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don't like this chapter but I can't really tell what bothers me so much about it either....I really didn't have fun writing this because it took me 4 weeks somehow, but I tried. I hope you guys like it at least.  
> This chapter absolutely needs to exist, it's really important that I slow the pacing a bit to let the characters breathe and react so there's that, and I need to develop Chara more; Frisk's character arc is the most important part of this fic, but Chara needs one of those too. Um, I think I'll talk about that more later, or if you guys ask me.  
> Anywho, I wish you a Happy New Year and I hope your 2021 is a lot better than your 2020!


End file.
